Castelconturbia (Blue & Yellow)

Designed by Robert Trent Jones, Castelconturbia Golf Club opened for play in 1984 to a standing ovation. It’s located about one hour’s drive to the north of Milan and it has bags of Italian style.

Castelconturbia is one of Italy’s most challenging courses and with three nine-hole loops there are a number of playing combinations. If you want to play the Italian Open course, you’ll need to play the Blue and Yellow nines (the Red course makes up the 27 holes) and, if you want to score well, you’ll need to have some accurate approach shots in your armoury. The Castelconturbia greens are huge, and very difficult to read and they can be cruel with their pin placements. Let’s hope the weather is kinder for your visit than it was for the 1998 Italian Open, which saw José Maria Olazábal emerge victorious. The Open was reduced to 56 holes after torrential rain brought the final round to an early conclusion.

With some great distant mountain views to drink and a challenging, strategic and varied course, Castelconturbia should be added to any serious visiting golfer’s itinerary and, what’s more, the club is friendly and the facilities are pretty good too. In many ways, Castelconturbia is reminiscent of The Wisley, both come from the same design stable, both have three loops of nine holes and even the clubhouses are remarkably similar. Thankfully, Castelconturbia is open to visitors. Hurrah!